New York City Comptroller William Thompson, denied a bounce after his Democratic primary
victory, trails Mayor Michael Bloomberg 52 - 36 percent among New York City likely voters,
according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Conservative Party candidate Stephen
Christopher has 2 percent, with 9 percent undecided.

Since this is the first survey of likely voters and the first survey to include Christopher,
comparisons to earlier surveys are not valid.

"Comptroller William Thompson, fresh from a big Democratic primary win, got no post-
primary bounce in his campaign to unseat Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He has a 16-point
mountain to climb and less than six weeks to do it," said Maurice Carroll, director of the
Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"And while Thompson is climbing that mountain, Bloomberg is rolling huge rocks, in the
form of a multi-million-dollar media blitz, down on his head.

"Thompson manages only a tie among Democrats and only an 18-point lead among his
fellow black New Yorkers. And for a citywide official of real importance, his job approval
'don't know' number is high."

New York City likely voters approve 69 -26 percent of the job Bloomberg is doing.

By a 64 - 29 percent margin, voters have a favorable opinion of Bloomberg.

Thompson has a 42 - 12 percent favorability, but 44 percent don't know enough about
him to form an opinion.

For Christopher, 90 percent don't know enough about him to form an opinion.

"Stephen Christopher? You didn't know that he's the Conservative Party candidate for
Mayor? Neither does anyone else," Carroll said.

Outdoor Smoking Ban

By a 52 - 43 percent margin, New York City likely voters support a proposal to ban
smoking in city parks and beaches. This smoking ban wins 56 - 39 percent approval from
Democrats. Independent voters split with 48 percent in favor and 47 percent opposed.
Republicans oppose it 52 - 44 percent.

Women support the outdoor ban 57 - 38 percent, while men oppose it 49 - 44 percent.
Support ranges from 55 - 38 percent in favor in The Bronx to 52 - 43 percent opposed in Staten
Island, New York City's greenest borough.

"We ban smoking in saloons. We ban smoking in baseball stadiums. We ban smoking in
all sorts of places, but in the open air in parks? New Yorkers are still puffing on that idea. Let's
see what happens after the election," Carroll said.

From September 16 - 21, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,513 New York City likely
voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and
nationwide as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed - http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, or call (203) 582-5201.

7. If the 2009 election for Mayor were being held today, and the candidates were
Michael Bloomberg running as both a Republican and an Independent, William
Thompson the Democrat and Stephen Christopher the Conservative party candidate
for whom would you vote? (If undecided q7) As of today, do you lean more toward
Thompson, Bloomberg or Christopher?